Index



INDEX Dec. 1, 1942.

Filed July 29, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet ll ,r1/new T. Walraven Deci 1, 1942.A. T. wALRAvEN INDEX Filed July 29, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 aE. zEWSEE-mPatented Dec. 1, 1942 zoriisn UNITED ySTATES PATENT OFFICE INDEX AlbertT. Walraven, Dallas,y Tex. Application July 29, 1941, Serial No. 404,501

y (0 1. zas-3s) 5 Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in indexes.

One object of the invention is to provide an improved index which isparticularly applicable to ledgers, books and the like, having theircontents divided into sections arranged in alphabetical order, saidindex being so constructed that accurate and rapid location of anysection, or sub-division thereof, of said ledger or book may beaccomplished.

An important object of the invention is to provide an improved indexwhich divides the book into a plurality of main sections and thensubdivides each section into a series of sub-sections or sub-divisions,each main section and each subdivision having a reference tab oridentifying indicia, whereby location of any desired page in the book isfacilitated.

Another object of the invention is to provide an index, of the characterdescribed, wherein extending reference tabs are employed for dividingthe book into main sections and wherein thumb indexes are utilized tolocate the various subdivisions of each section, whereby the mainsection may be readily referred to, after which the particularsub-division 0f such section may be easily located; the particulararrangement permitting the identifying indicia for the varioussub-divisions to be disposed on the marginal portions of the pages orsheets of the book, which simplifies manufacture and reduces the cost.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an index, of thecharacter described, which includes indicia or reference characters onthe first page of each main section, and alsoon the rst page of eachsub-division of said section, such indicia or reference characters beingassociated with thumb notches, whereby any desired portion of thesection may be readily located at any time and without the necessity ofindividually turning each page in an attempt to refer to a desired partof a given section.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved indexwherein an identifying mark is associated with the reference characterdenoting the sub-division at that point, whereby it it readily knownthat the other reference characters appearing on the same page with theidentied character relate to other sub-division.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an index, of thecharacter described, having the thumb notches so arranged that all ofsaidk notches may be located in overlying relation at` one portion ofthe book, whereby manufacturing a manner whereby when the lfirst page ofeach sub-division or series of each section is turned, the referenceindicia which identifies the succeeding sub-division is visible throughthe thumb l notch associated therewith.

The construction designed to carry out the invention will be hereinafterdescribed together with other features of the invention.

The invention will bemore readily understood from a reading of thefollowing specification and by reference to the accompanying drawings,as an example of the invention is shown, and Wherein:

,Figure 1 is an isometric view of a ledger book having an index,constructed in accordance With the invention, applied thereto, v

Figure 2 is a view of the upper corner of the book, with the coveropened t0 show the fly leaf of the first section in elevation,

Figure 3 is a view of the upper corner and the upper half of the edge ofthe book, showing the reference tabs for the sections, the ily leaf ofthe first section having been turned to expose the rst page of saidsection, l

Figure 4 is a view, similar to Figure 3, with the rst page of thesection moved slightly inwardly o-f the underlying sheets to expose thesecond page,

Fig. l5 is a partial view, somewhat similar to Figures 3 and 4, with thefirst sheet of the second series or sub-division exposed,

Figures 6 and 7 are views, similar to Figures 3 to 5, illustrating theindexing of the first or A section of the book, and

Figures 8 to 10 are similar views, showing the indexing and subdividingof the M section of said book.

In the drawings, the numeral I0 designates a book which may be of anydesired construction. The book includes the usual cover boards Ilbetween Vwhich, are mounted the sheets or pages I2 of said book.v Asillustrated, the sheets or pages are bound within the cover but theinvention is not to be limited to'this particular congstruction sincethe sheets could be removably mounted within the cover, as is th'e caseinthe usual loose-leaf type of ledger book.

In carrying out the present invention, the pages or sheets of the bookare divided into a f plurality of sections which are arranged inalphabetical order. Each section is identified by an index or referencetab I3 which is fastened, by means of a suitable adhesive, to a blankpage or dividing sheet I4 which is located between each is facilitated;said notches also being disposed in 55 section. The tabs I3 are offsetor misalined with each oth'er and extend outwardly beyond thelongitudinal, free edges of the sheets I2, as is clearly shown inFigure 1. It is preferable that Athe first tab, which carries the A, bedisposed at the top of the sheet and that the following tabs be arrangedsuccessively toward the bottom or lower edge of the book so that the tabcarrying the letter Z is disposed at the bottom of the book. Manifestly,the particular section may be readily referred to by merely opening thebook at the particular tab I3 which identifies the section being sought.

Each main section which is identied by one of the reference tabs I3 issubdivided into a series of subdivisions or subsections, the number ofsubdivisions depending upon the number of entries which appear or whichare to be made in a particular section. In other words, one of thesections may be subdivided into three subdivisions, whereas anothersection might be subdivided into eight or nine subdivisions. Thus theinvention is not to be limited to the subdividing of the main sectionsinto any predetermined number of subdivisions. Each subdivision includesa series of pages and the number of pages in each subdivision is againdependent upon the number of `entries which appear or are to be made inthe particular series of pages forming such subdivision. In other words,one subdivision may comprise two or three pages, while another mightcomprise ten or fifteen pages.

For identifying the various subdivisions of each main section, suitableindicia is associated with each section and reference is made to Figures3 to '7, wherein the subdivisions of the main section A are shown.Referring to Figure 3, page 1 of the section A is illustrated. Thissection comprises a plurality of sheets which are disposed between thedividing sheet I4, to which the tab I3 carrying the numeral A isattached, and the dividing sheet I4 to which the tab I3 carrying thenumeral B is attached. These sheets which will be referred to as thesection A carry all of the entries which begin with the letter A.

The section A is subdivided into three subdivisions or subsections,these; subdivisions being identified by the letters Aa, Am and Ar. Allentries beginning with the letters Aa up to and excluding those entriesbeginning with Am are placed in the first subdivision; similarly, theentries beginning with Am up to but excluding those beginning with "Arare placed in the second subdivision, while the remaining entriesbeginning with Ar to and including Az are placed in the thirdsubdivision of the section A. vThe identifying characters which areassociated with the three subdivisions of the section A appear on therst sheet or page of each subdivision, being disposed on the marginaledge portion of such sheet and beginning near the top thereof. Thesecharacters have been numbered I5, I6',`and I'I respectively in Figure 3,which is an illustration of the first page of the subdivision Aa of thesectoin A. It will be noted that the characters are disposed one belowthe other and the characters I are enclosed by a circle I8,-and an arrowI9 points to said circle. The provision of the circle and arrow advisesthe observer that the characters Aa denote the particular lsubdivisionat that point.

In other'words, the characters"Am and Ar are within the section A butare not at the page'shown in Figure 3. Thus, upon initially turning thedividing sheet I4 to which the tab I3 carrying the letter A is attached,the page illustrated in Figure 3 is visible to the observer. If theobserver is desirous of locating an entry which falls between theentries beginning with Aa and ending with entries beginning with A1, hemerely turns the pages of th'e first subdivision of section A.

The second reference character Am which appears on the first page of thesubdivision Aa,

is alined with thumb notches 20 which are disposed immediately below thecharacter Am and which are provided in the remaining sheets of th'efirst subdivision Aa. Thus, when page 1 of the first subdivision of thesection A is turned, the thumb notches 20 in the remaining sheets ofthis subdivision are immediately visible to the observer. The thumbnotches 20 are also alined with the reference character Am which isdenoted by the numeral II6, and which' appears on the first sheet of thesecond subdivision. As illustrated, this character appears onpage 5 ofthe book, which page is the first sheet of the second series. Thecharacter II6 is located in alinement with the character I6, but sinceit is the first page of th'e second subdivision, it is surrounded by acircle I I8 which has an arrow IIS pointing thereto. In addition, thispage carries characters II5 and III, just as page 1 of the firstsubdivision displayed these characters. With this arrangement, ifit is-desired to refer to the second subdivision of the section A, it isonlyl necessary to engage the thumb notches 20 and immediately turn tothe second subdivision, which' is identifiedv by the characters Amnumbered I I6.

All of the sheets of the second subdivision,-

with the Yexception of the first page on which the characters II5, I IBand II'I appear, are provided with thumb notches 2I and these notchesare alined with the characters I'I and II1.H The thumb notches 2I arealso alinedwith reference characters VAr, numbered 2I'I in Figures 6 and'7, which appear on the first page of the third subdivision of sectionA. The charactersl 2I'I are clearly visible through the thumb notches 2Iafter the first page of the second subdivision has been turned or Vmovedout of alinement there with. The characters 2I'I are enclosed by acircle- 2I8 andan indicating arrow 2|!! points to said circle. Inaddition to the reference characters 2I1, the marginal edge portion ofthis first sheet of the third subdivision also displays characters 2I5and 2I6, which characters are the letters Aa and Am respectively.Manifestly, if it is desired to immediately turn to the thirdsubdivision of section A, it is only necessary tolocation of Vthe thumbnotches which are assof` ciated with the subsection; in other wordsfthethumb notches 20 are associated with the characters I6, IIE and 2I6/ andalined therewith'. When it is desired to turn to the section Am asindicatedby these characters, it is only necessary to aline the fingeror thumb with said characters and then move the same downwardly intoengagement with the notches 20. Similarly, the thumb notches 2| areassociated with the reference characters Ar indicated by the numeralsl1, |||,and2|'|.

`From the'above, it will be seen that each section' is separated fromthe other sections by the dividing sheet I 4. located by reference tothe index tab I3 which identifies that section. After a particular mainsection has been located, any particular subdivision of such section maybe readily referred to by observingthe indicia on the'fi'rst page of anyone of such subdivisions. The indicia'is located nearer the upper edgeof the page and is printed, or otherwise displayed, along the verticalmarginal portion of said page. It is not necessary that a thumb notch beprovided for the first subdivision of any section butvall of thesucceeding subdivisions have thumb notches associated therewith.

Each section ofthe book may comprise any desired number of sheets andalso, as has been previously pointed out, each section may be subdividedinto any desired number of subdivisions, each of which include a seriesof sheets or pages. As illustrated in Figures 3 to 7, the section A isshown as divided into three subdivisions, but if desired, more or lesscould be provided.

In Figures 8 to 10, the section M of the book has been illustrated. Asshown, this section is subdivided into eight subdivisions, the firstsubdivision including all entries which begin with Ma up to andexcluding those entries beginning with Man The second subdivision coversthe entries which begin with Mar up to and excluding those beginningwith McA. The re* mainder of the section is separated into othersubdivisions whereby the entire M section is included. As illustrated inFigure 8, the first page of the rst subdivision of this section has allof the reference characters referring to the various subdivisionsprinted, or otherwise displayed, on its marginal edge portion. Sincethis page is the first sheet of the first subdivision, the uppermostcharacter Ma is encircled and has an arrow pointing thereto. Thumbnotches are associated with all of the other reference characters onthis page, said notches being alined with the various characters (Figure8) whereby any particular section may be readily referred to.

In Figure 9, the first page of the third subdivision of the section M isshown. The same reference characters appear on this page as on the rstpage of the first subdivision, the only difference being that thecharacters MCA are encircled and said circle has an arrow pointingthereto. As explained, this denotes that the book is opened at thatparticular subdivision.

In Figure 10, the first page of the fifth subdivision of section M isillustrated and this page also carries the same reference characters.However, in this instance the reference characters Me are encircled todenote that the book is open at the fifth subdivision. It is apparentthat any subdivision of the section M may `be readily referred to bymerely alining the finger or thumb with the reference charactersrelating to the subdivision sought and turning the pages to the propersection, such turning being facilitated by the thumb notches |20.

The improved index divides the complete book into a number of mainsections, each of which may be readily located by the projecting orextending reference tabs I3. Each section is then Each section is alsoreadilyv of the subdivisions, with the exception of the first one ineach section, have thumb notches associated with theirl referencecharacters s0 as to .facilitate the location of any desired subdivision.Since all of the reference characters of all of the subdivisions of vonesection appear on.

the first page of each subdivision, an identifying circle andarrowdenote the particular character which identifies the subdivsion to whichthe book is opened. In this manner, any given point in the entire bookmay be quickly and accurately located. It is pointed out that thereference characters which identify the subdivisions are all disposed inalinement and are located on the marginal edge portion of the firstsheet of each subdivision.` By locating the characters in the sameposition on each page, manufacturing is simplified. and costs arereduced. Also, by disposing the characters in the same relative positionyon each sheet, the thumb notches may be easily formed in the sheets andwithout having to form each notch individually for each subdivision.This also facilitates manufacture. The invention has been shown anddescribed as applied to a bound book of the ledger type, but obviouslyit may be applied to a dictionary, or any other reference book whichrequires an index.

The foregoing description of the invention is explanatory thereof andvarious changes in the size, shape and materials, as well as in thedetails of the illustrated construction, may be made, Within the scopeof the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. The combination with a book of an index including, a plurality ofreference markers dividing the sheets into a plurality of main sections,each section being divided into a plurality of subdivisions,identification characters displayed on the first sheet of eachsubdivision and being disposed adjacent the marginal edge portionthereof, each character denoting one of the subdivisions of the mainsection, and a thumb notch formed in the marginal edge portion of eachsheet of each subdivision other than said first sheet and disposed inalinement with the character denoting the following subdivision, wherebythe denoting character displayed on the first sheet of said followingsubdivision is visible when the first sheet of the preceding subdivisionhas been moved away from the other sheets thereof.

2. The combination with a book of an index including, a plurality ofreference markers dividing the sheets into a plurality of main sections,

each section being divided into a plurality of sheet of each subdivisionafter the first sheet thereof in alinement with the indicia denoting thefollowing subdivision 'and overlying the distinguished indicia displayedon the iirst `sheet of said following subdivision, whereby saiddistinguished indicia is hidden from view by the irst sheet of thepreceding subdivision and is visible through the thumbnotches when saidpreceding rst sheet is raised. n

3. The combination with a book of an Yindex including, aplurality ofreference markers dividing the sheets into a plurality of main sections,each section being divided into a plurality of subdivisions, anidentication character displayed on the first sheet of each subdivisionadjacent the marginal edge portion thereof, and a thumb notch formed inthe marginal edge prtion of each of the other sheets of each subdivisionand lalined with and overlying the identication character of thefollowing subdivision displayed on the first sheet thereof, whereby saidcharacter is hidden from view by the rst sheet of the precedingsubdivision and exposed when said preceding irst sheet is raised.

4. The combination with a `bool: of an index including, a plurality ofreference markersdividing the sheets into a plurality of main sections,each section being divided into a plurality of subdivisions, anidentification character displayed on the rst sheetl of each subdivisionadjacent the marginal edge portion thereof, the characters being steppedrelative to each other, and a thumb notch formed in the marginal edgeportion of each of the other sheets of each subdivision and beingsteppedre1ative,to;the char-2 acter displayed on therst sheet of itsAsubdi.-

vision so as to vbe Valined'with and overlie the` identication characterof thefollowing subdivision displayed `on the rst sheeti thereof,whereby said character is hidden from view` by. the first sheet of thepreceding subdivision and visible through the notch of said precedingsubdivision sheets when said preceding subdivision first sheet israised. l f

5. The combination with abook having its sheets divided into apluralityof main sections by a plurality of reference tabs with eachsection divided into a plurality of subdivisions, the first sheet ofeach subdivision having identification characters displayed thereonadjacent the longitudinal edge portion thereof and each characterdenoting one of the subdivisions of the section, of the improvementwhich consists of, a thumb notch formed in the longitudinal edge portionof the other sheets of each subdivision in alinernent with the characterdenoting the following subdivision, whereby the denoting characterdisplayed on the rst sheet of the said. following subdivision is hiddenfrom view by the iirst sheet of the preceding subdivision and is visiblethrough the thumb notches of said preceding subdivision sheets when saidpreceding first page is raised.

ALBERT T. WALRAVEN.

